Sandor Gyarmati, (WESTERN INVESTOR) —A plan to build a large industrial complex adjacent to Burns Bog in Delta, B.C., is still slowly grinding its way through a complex approval process.

According to an information memo from the City of Delta, at the time of Delta council’s final adoption in August 2018, a no-build covenant was registered on the property in the 5200-block of 88th Street in order to secure external agency approvals for on- and off-site servicing requirements.

In July of this year, the Agricultural Land Commission conditionally approved Delta’s application for components of a 78th Street interchange and servicing for the site. City staff will work with the commission to satisfy the conditions of approval, while the commission chair has 60 days to review the decision and determine if it should be reconsidered by the ALC’s executive committee.

Staff and the applicant are also working with B.C. Hydro, B.C. Rail, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to finalize approvals for on- and off-site servicing requirements. Once the servicing requirements have been finalized, the applicant has to enter into a development agreement with the city.

Last year, Beedie assumed ownership of the former Pineland Peat site, a 66-hectare (163-acre) property that’s to be split into several heavy industrial lots.

The property, which is not in the Agricultural Land Reserve but requires access through ALR land, borders the south side of the Burns Bog conservancy area.

The industrial park would be accessed from 88th Street and to facilitate two-way truck traffic, the street would be widened. To mitigate traffic impacts, several other improvements are planned, including a new interchange at Highway 99 and 78th Street.

Now called the Beedie Parkwood Development, the project has been described by city planning staff as “a very complex development” that is contingent upon the redevelopment of the Mathews Interchange at Highway 99.

Construction was to have begun in the spring of 2019.

The Burns Bog Conservation Society has voiced opposition to the development, as well as the 62-hectare (155-acre) MK Delta Lands Group industrial development, which council also approved, on the north side of the bog.